New Sudan Shriners potentate hails from Pamlico County

Ken Bennett of Reelsboro is the new potentate for more than 5,500 Sudan Shriners in Eastern North Carolina and he is proud of the work done by the fraternal organizations, which is holding its annual Winter Ceremonial in New Bern this weekend.

Ken Bennett of Reelsboro is the new potentate for more than 5,500 Sudan Shriners in Eastern North Carolina and he is proud of the work done by the fraternal organizations, which is holding its annual Winter Ceremonial in New Bern this weekend.

He and his wife Juanita were formerly introduced Saturday morning when they departed their parade vehicle and were the first Shriner dignitaries on the reviewing stand, welcomed by longtime announcer John Moore.

Bennett’s road to being the head of one of the largest Shriner groups in the world began 40 years ago when he became a Mason at Bayboro Lodge No. 331. But, he didn’t begin with the idea of someday being a Shriner potentate.

“I joined because I had a dear friend (Elmo Goodwin) who was a Mason and I envied his personality and his attitude,” said Bennett, who added that he attributed those qualities in part to Goodwin’s involvement with the Masons.

By 1983, Bennett was Master Mason at the Bayboro Lodge and he joined the Sudan Shriners in 1997, again through the urging of another good Shriner friend, the late Ed Weeks.

Bennett joined the Shriners unit, the Truckers, and was actively driving them in parades until three years ago when other Shriner duties demanded his attention.

“It was tremendous fun,” he said of participating in parades throughout the coastal area. “There is no experience greater than to see a little child in the crowd waving and smiling. It makes it all worthwhile.”

Children are at the core of the Shriners’ work, helping injured and burned youngsters with free transportation and medical treatment at its 22 hospitals in North America.

“We’ve got some of the best Shriners in the world here and we will continue to support the childrens’ hospitals,” he said.

The Shriners are an aging organization and like most potentates in the past decade, his goals for the coming year include boosting membership.

Another project is to continue work on the Sudan headquarters at Broad and East Front streets in New Bern, which has been a landmark in the city for decades.

“We want to bring the building back to its glory and luster,” he said, noting that in the past year the trademark dome had been repainted from yellow to crème color and a new gutter system had been installed.

Refurbishing rooms, lots of painting and restoring one of the largest dance floors around are other projects.

“Most of this work is done through volunteers,” he said if the dozens of individual Shrines, clubs and units who have given time, money and labor.

Bennett is a native or Reelsboro, where he still lives on Bennett Farm Road. He grew up the son of Milford and Isla Bennett. His father died in the early 1980s and his mother will celebrate her 100th birthday in June.

Page 2 of 2 - His father work in civil service at Cherry Point air station and farmed about 60 acres on the side.

“That was a big farm then, it’s a small farm today,” said Bennett, who put in time in the tobacco fields and also worked at the A&P Grocery in New Bern. Bennett, born on Christmas Eve in 1943, attended then Alliance Elementary School and later graduated from Pamlico High School.

He also worked at a number of area electric companies over about a dozen years, which set the path for his career. He has owned Tryon Electric since 1962.

Bennett is the second Shriner potentate from Pamlico County in recent years, with Tommy Boyd serving as the Shriner leader in 2005.

Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or charlie.hall@newbernsj.com.